Spider-Man: Throne of Atlantis
by riscrit
Summary: After eight years as Spider-Man, Peter Parker thought his life couldn't get any crazier— That is until a beautiful redhead claiming to be the Princess of Atlantis crashes into his life.
1. Red-Headed Stranger

**Spider-Man: Throne of Atlantis**

* * *

 **Chapter I: Red-Headed Stranger**

* * *

Peter Parker sometimes wondered if he was just running round in circles. After eight years as Spider-Man, he was still fighting the same criminals he fought way back when he first received his powers. Take Adrian Toomes, better known as the Vulture, for instance. Toomes was the very first supervillain he had encountered back in the day. Yet, just last week, Peter found himself having to play Spider-Cop and apprehend him for the umpteenth time. Peter sometimes wondered if he wasn't making any progress, because it sure seemed like every supervillain he stopped kept coming back for more.

Moments ago, he had received a distress message from Captain Yuri Watanabe. His former mentor, Otto Octavius, had broken into an Oscorp facility stealing Tritium, a highly rare and expensive isotope. After the Devil Breath's incident in Times Square six months ago, who knew what the mad doctor was plotting this time around.

Swinging across the brightly lit streets of New York at breathtaking speeds in his now-iconic red-and-blue Advanced Suit, he was currently in hot pursuit of the supervillain. Using the Oscorp facility as a starting point and the location Octavius was last sighted, Peter quickly deduced that the mad doctor was heading towards Whitehall Terminal.

He arrived at the station with no time to spare. Just as he had predicted, Octavius was making his way towards the docks. The supervillain was flanked by four lackeys, each with firearms. The mad doctor was fashioned in a fully armored midnight green bodysuit this time around and made use of his mighty mechanical arms to cover great distances at an astonishing pace.

"Hey, Doc Ock, fancy meeting you here! Going on a vacation?" Peter quipped. He flicked his wrist, sending a powerful jet of webbing that pinned one of Octavius' mechanical arms to the ground.

Swinging forward, he let loose a second blast of webbing that wrapped the first henchman around one of the dock's concrete posts.

"You insolent arachnid," Octavius cursed. "Why can't you leave me alone!" Using one of his mechanical arms, he hurled a nearby car straight toward the wall-crawler.

With the proportionate strength of a spider, Peter easily caught the vehicle. Thankfully, the fight had occurred in the middle of the night. This meant that there were scarcely any bystanders at risk of being caught in the crossfire. Even then, what was left of the bystanders before the fight had already fled in terror amidst the chaos.

"What are you waiting for, dolts? Shoot him!" Octavius yelled at his henchmen, who beforehand, were all too engaged in watching the dramatic confrontation. The three remaining goons began firing wildly at the spider-themed hero, forcing Peter to shift his attention away from the criminal mastermind, and focus on the henchmen instead.

With Spider-Man distracted, Octavius attempted to make use of the opportunity to exit the scene and head back to his secret underwater base in New York Bay.

Noticing the mad doctor was in a hurry to leave, Peter made short work of the second henchmen, webbing the man to the side of a wall.

"Man, you guys are embarrassing. Even Jameson gives me more trouble than this," Peter teased. He swerved his way through a barrage of bullets and followed up with a sweeping kick that took down the third henchmen. A quick web-shot at the final henchmen was all he needed to refocus his attention back onto Doc Ock.

"Leaving so soon, Ock?" Peter quipped. He fired a web-line that snagged onto two of Octavius' mechanical arms. Hurling himself forward, Peter would have landed a dropkick if not for the prickling sensation at the back of his head— his spider-sense was tingling. He swiftly avoided the third mechanical arm aimed for his head, only to be struck from behind by the supervillain's fourth and final mechanical arm. Uh oh.

"You will address me as Doctor Otto Octavius, and treat me with the proper respect I deserve, arachnid!"

Peter was slammed into the ground repeatedly as cracks started to form in the concrete pavement below him. He was hit with enough force to kill an ordinary human many times over. "That all you got, Doc?"

"You overestimate your abilities, dolt," commented the mad doctor. He flung Peter towards the ocean before hurling two parked cars towards the wall-crawler.

With his superhuman agility, Peter was able to twist his body mid-air to avoid both vehicles thrown at him but was unable to save them from falling into the ocean. The two unfortunate car owners were likely to have a bad day tomorrow finding out their cars were tossed into the sea, Peter mused to himself.

He then fired his web-shooter towards the ledge of a nearby building, swinging himself back onto solid ground.

To his dismay, Octavius had already fled the scene and descended into the ocean depths. It was unlikely Peter would be able to catch up to Octavius, given his current condition. Without modifying his web-fluid formula, his web-shooters were virtually useless underwater. Nonetheless, Peter wasn't going to let the odds deter him from pursuing the mad doctor.

He readied himself, prepared to dive headfirst into the sea when miraculously, a powerful jet of water erupted from the ocean. The blast of water promptly sent an enraged Doctor Octopus and the two passenger cars that sank earlier flying towards the terminal platform.

Peter turned to see a woman rising out of the water. And boy, was she a woman.

She had long, fiery red hair, and emerald eyes, as deep as the ocean. Her skin was white and had a healthy tan to it. A straight-edged nose and kissable lips. Sharp, killer cheekbones that were paired with a smooth jawline. She wore a unique bright green one-piece outfit decorated with small hexagons resembling fish scales that served only to enhance her impressive figure.

She was absolutely, in every sense of the word, beautiful.

He took a step back when she laid her eyes on him. "I'm not with him," Peter said defensively, referring to Octavius, who was just starting to get up.

"Argh! You witch! You'll pay for that," Octavius grunted. Recovering from the unexpected attack, he utilized his telepathic control over his mechanical arms to strike at her.

The woman raised her hand, and on command, a powerful blast of water counteracted the supervillain's attack. Two of his mechanical arms were damaged in the process. She definitely wasn't from around here, thought Peter. Maybe she was an alien? An alien from under the sea?

"Tsk-tsk. That's no way to treat a lady, Otto," Peter mocked. He threw himself towards the temporarily stunned villain and tackled him onto the ground.

"Damn you, Spider-Man! Damn you both!" Octavius cursed, "I'll destroy both of you!"

So that's what they called him, the woman thought to herself. Spider-Man, the name had a ring to it.

Without saying a word, the beautiful redhead delivered another wave of water that sent the mad doctor crashing into the side of a wall. Maybe she was the silent type, Peter guessed. But if there was one thing he knew, it was that she was a certified badass.

Following up on her attack, Peter delivered a roundhouse kick of his own. The pair worked in unison, taking turns to land hits on the supervillain. Within moments, they had managed to rapidly wear down Octavius' titanium armor.

Realizing he was in a losing battle, the mad doctor attempted to flee. In response, Peter sent a volley of webbing that entrapped the villain and his mechanical arms, preventing any chance of escape. He then removed the interface connecting Octavius to his mechanical arms, rendering the supervillain powerless.

"Sleep tight, Otto," Peter commented, eliciting a painful groan from the now semi-unconscious villain. With a tap on the side of his mask, Peter informed Yuri that Octavius and his men were down and ready to be transported to Rykers.

It was then Peter shifted his attention back to the mysterious redhead who assisted him. She was sitting on top of a ledge, staring out into the vast open ocean.

"Thank you for your help," Peter said, suddenly realizing he didn't know her name.

She turned to look at him intently but remained silent. Maybe she didn't understand him, he thought. It couldn't hurt to try a second time.

"New York could use more heroes. You know, like you, to handle guys like Doc Ock back there." Peter elaborated by pointing back to the semi-unconscious villain, who was fastly secured to the side of a street light. "It would've been a huge nightmare for all of us if Otto got away, so thank you."

"You're welcome, Spider-Man." The woman replied, finally speaking. Her voice was alluring. "You say there are more like him?"

"Well, yeah. There's the Vulture, a grumpy old guy in a mechanized wingsuit. Then there's Electro, living electricity. Rhino, Hammerhead, Mister Negative—" Peter paused, realizing he was rambling. "You're not from around here, are you?" he asked, taking a seat beside her.

"Atlantis." The woman replied after much contemplation."I'm from Atlantis," she repeated. Well technically, she was from Xebel, but it was unlikely the spider-themed hero would know the difference between the two underwater kingdoms.

"Hold on, Atlantis is real?" As a kid, Peter was fascinated by the story of Atlantis but always assumed it to be a legend, and nothing more. Well, given what the woman was capable of, anything was possible.

"Yes, but it's... it was supposed to be a secret. I wasn't supposed to let you know. At least not yet," Mera revealed, silently cursing herself for the slip-up.

What did she mean by that? Peter was confused. He had too many questions and too few answers.

"Can I trust you?" the woman asked. Having never been to the surface world before, she wasn't entirely sure if she could trust the man. Nonetheless, from what limited information she'd gathered and their earlier team-up, her intuition told her that Spider-Man was dependable. All she was now looking out for was a sign to confirm she could trust him.

"Yes—" Peter said, only to be interrupted by the sound of approaching police sirens. He turned back, ready to continue the conversation only to realize the redhead had disappeared. Looking around, he found her hiding behind the side of a wall. She put her finger to her lips and shot him a look, the kind that said 'prove I can trust you, don't let anyone else know' kinda look.

Maybe he shouldn't have given her the benefit of the doubt, Peter considered. After all, they had only met moments ago. Yet a part of him felt like he should, and it wasn't just because she was drop-dead gorgeous. It was an intuitive feeling. The kind he didn't know how to describe. Besides, she did help him with Octavius. Nodding his head, Peter caught the woman mouthing "thank you," before he turned back to face the oncoming police cars.

"Hold your applause, ladies and gents, New York's very finest, the one and only Yuri Watanabe, has arrived," Peter playfully commented.

"I must say you handled today's situation far better than the last time you were here," remarked Yuri, who got out of the police car with a smirk on her face.

"Oh c'mon Yuri, we promised not to bring that up again."

The police captain was referring to a confrontation eight years ago between an inexperienced Peter and the Vulture. Initially, it appeared as if young Parker had the upper hand. But then he messed up, causing the Vulture's weapon to split the Staten Island ferry in half. In a desperate struggle, Peter used his webs and held the ship together through sheer strength, until help arrived. It was a rather painful and humbling experience.

"I'm just teasing. Can't be the only one having all the fun, Spider-Cop."

"I'm rubbing off you!" Peter exclaimed, grinning under his mask.

"In all the wrong ways," Yuri joked, before effortlessly shifting back to her serious mode. "But you did good work today, Spider-Man. We'll be transferring Octavius to a more secure location, and hopefully, he'll remain there this time."

Behind Peter and Yuri, a squad of police officers outfitted with heavy-duty vest was securing Octavius and his henchmen inside the back of an armored police truck. A second truck parked beside it was used to store Octavius mechanical appendages and the stolen Tritium.

"First, the Vulture, and now Octavius. Any idea who's behind all this?" Peter asked.

"I'm working on it," Yuri sighed. "In the meantime, don't be too surprised if another supervillain breakout happens soon enough."

"Great, looking forward to it," Peter replied sarcastically.

"Anyways, I have some unverified accounts about an unknown female assailant with hydrokinesis abilities. Reports claimed she broke up the fight between you and Octavius. Is that true?" Yuri asked with interest.

Peter turned back briefly to glance at the redhead, fast enough that Yuri didn't register it. One of the props of having superhuman speed. "Whaaat? I totally would be in better shape right now if someone really did help me put the beat down on Ock," Peter lied, referring to his slightly battered red-and-blue suit. "And you know I've always gone solo, Yuri."

"Then how are you going to explain all the water left behind in the wreckage?" Yuri questioned, motioning towards the numerous water puddles that were littered across the plaza.

"I, uh, dunked Doc Ock into the water with my finisher move. Still don't have a name for it... thinking of calling it 'maximum spider'."

"Are you sure?" she asked one last time for good measure, unconvinced by his made-up answer.

"Yeah," Peter replied, trying to sound confident.

"Why did your voice suddenly get so deep?"

"This is my usual voice."

"Yeah, yeah," Yuri said. She decided to entertain herself for a moment. "You're not fooling anyone. Before you sounded like a kid."

"Hey! Not cool."

"And now you sound like a kid again," Yuri chuckled. "Look, thanks for the help once again, Spider-Boy," she said, which earned a second "hey!" from the spider-themed hero. "I'll let you know if we need your expertise dealing with another super-maniac nutjob. Keep in touch." She then waved goodbye before driving off with the two armored police trucks in tow.

* * *

"They're gone," Peter declared. He had stood guard at the same spot for a few minutes, just in case the police captain turned back and checked on him. Judging from Yuri's expression, she likely suspected something. Not that it was difficult, given the lame excuses he'd given. But hey, he had managed to keep his identity a secret for eight years and counting. That had to count for something.

Glancing over his shoulder, Peter saw the Atlantean redhead motioning for him to come over to the other side of the wall, which was more secluded. He thought back to their conversation before being interrupted by the police and concluded she genuinely wanted to remain hidden, for reasons currently unknown to him.

"Thank you," said the redhead.

"You know, I don't know even know your name."

"It's Princess Y'Mera Xebella Challa. You may call me, Mera." She flashed him a smile.

"You're welcome, Mera," Peter said. "I'm Spider-Man, but... you already knew that."

"I may not be from around here, but even I know that's not your real name," Mera said, eyeing him. She decided to omit the fact that back in Atlantis, they had only known him as the 'Man of Spiders.' In hindsight, that was a far cry from Spider-Man— a name that much better suited the spider-themed hero.

"It's called a secret identity," Peter shot back. "I'm sure you can relate. Think about Atlantis. How you want it to be a secret?— that's the same thing with my identity."

Mera frowned at him.

Peter caught on to her worries and said, "Look. I promise, cross my heart, that I won't be saying anything to anyone about Atlantis, but—"

"You're wondering why I even showed up in the first place."

He nodded, encouraging her to continue.

"I was tasked by my people to observe the surface world. To learn more about it," she said. "Admittedly, I overlooked the part where it was supposed to be an undercover mission."

"And this mission of yours somehow concerns the fate of the world," Peter joked only to realize she sounded serious about it. Now he was silently praying she'd say he was wrong. Please say no, please say no.

"Yes," she stated with utmost seriousness.

"Care to fill me in on the details?"

"I would if you trusted me."

Again, what did she mean by that? Peter thought to himself, somewhat confused.

"As of right now, I know next to nothing about you, Spider-Man," Mera answered, reading his thoughts. "Yet, you know a great deal more about me. If you want me to trust you, you have to do the same," she said, patiently awaiting his response.

Peter's mind was racing. Something deep in his heart was telling him that he could trust her. Maybe it was because his spider-sense wasn't tingling? No, he knew that couldn't just be it. He had barely just met her, Peter tried to reason with himself. At the same time, if this mission of hers really concerned the fate of the world, it was worth the risk, he told himself. Taking in a deep breath, Peter silently prayed that he wasn't making a mistake as he took off his mask.

"My name's Peter Parker, and I've been Spider-Man ever since I was fifteen," he said, looking at her straight in the eye.

Mera was pleasantly surprised by the hero's decision. Taking a moment to observe his features, she thought he was cute with his tousled brown hair and brown eyes, in a nerdish kinda way. It wasn't until she saw the man fidget a little did Mera realize she had been staring for a while, causing a faint blush to appear on her cheeks.

"Thank you for trusting me, Peter," Mera said with a faint smile on her lips.

"You know, you're literally one of the only people who knows about this," Peter added. He hoped she realized just how significant this was. She was the only other person who knew his identity aside from his ex-girlfriend, Mary Jane.

Mera gave him a knowing look, letting him know she understood his point.

A moment of silence settled between them before Peter said, "Okay... about that mission of yours?"

So she told him. She told him about Orm's plan to invade the surface world, stressing to him the billions of lives that were at stake. She told him about her mission, whereby she was entrusted with monitoring and learning more about the surface world. She told him about how he could help her. Given the short timeframe they had, six months to be exact, he could act as her guide to the surface world and show her the good mankind had to offer. With his help and her status as the princess, she believed she could change Atlantis' perceptions of the surface world for the better and avoid the possibility of war altogether.

Peter gave himself a moment as he tried to process and reflect on all that she had just told him.

"Why me?" he asked her. "Why choose me when there are so many other heroes out there?"

"I may have done some research on you, and all of Earth's other heroes for that matter," Mera revealed, doing her best to hide her embarrassment. "I could tell that out of all of them, you'd be the one with the most heart. That you'd be THE someone who could represent the best of humanity."

Peter was taken aback. He had to admit, the praise the redhead had given him was starting to get to his head though he quickly shook it off.

"I'll help you," Peter said, putting on a brave face despite feeling overwhelmed. After all, this sounded like it was on a whole other level than what he was used to as New York's friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.

"We'll start tomorrow," Mera said, taking the lead.

"Central Park, nine in the morning?" he suggested, taking a moment to appreciate the calmness of the night sky. Realizing that this was probably her first time ever in the city, let alone her first time on the surface world, he added, "That is if you know where it is."

"I can manage," Mera said.

Peter hummed in acknowledgment. He followed her as she turned and walked towards the edge of the pier.

"See you, Peter." She gave him a parting glance before diving gracefully into the sea, with enough flair to rival the likes of the greatest Olympic divers. He stood at the docks, watching as she disappeared into the ocean depths, all the while being lost in his thoughts.

After eight years as Spider-Man, Peter Parker thought his life couldn't get any crazier. He had a feeling he was dead wrong now that Mera showed up in his life.

* * *

 **A quick A/N to everyone who has read this, I hoped you all enjoyed it! This version of Spider-Man is inspired by the PS4 game, with some changes and elements from the MCU/comics. One difference to note from the game is that in this story, Otto isn't aware that Peter is Spider-Man, at least not yet. As for Mera, she's based on her appearance in the Aquaman film, with some influence from the New 52/Rebirth comics. The events of the movie play out differently in this story. Think of this crossover-universe as a brighter version of the DCEU with Spider-Man added to it. There may be some cameos from other Marvel heroes, but the focus will be on Spidey. Do leave a review and let me know what you all think. Stay tuned for more!**


	2. A Day in New York City

**Spider-Man: Throne of Atlantis**

* * *

 **Chapter II: A Day in New York City**

* * *

Peter knew he worried too much sometimes. From stressing over rent money and the safety of his loved ones to meeting his deadlines at work and keeping his superhero identity a secret, he couldn't stop himself from worrying all the time. So maybe he was a little paranoid, but it didn't change the fact that his secret identity was currently on the top of his "things to worry about"list.

Arriving at Central Park after foiling a heist earlier in the morning, Peter thought back to last night, when he had revealed his secret identity to Mera. While he didn't have second thoughts and had a good reason for doing so, it was still a rash decision if he was honest to himself. They had literally just met each other!

A change of clothes and a minute later, Peter was now dressed in civilian attire. He was wearing a green checkered shirt with a pair of blue jeans. Walking absentmindedly past a group of tourists, he recalled his reasons for revealing his identity to the Atlantean princess:

For one, she had helped him in taking down Octavius. Then he learned about Atlantis and their plans for an invasion. She had asked for his help so that together, they could convince the Atlantis leadership that waging war against the surface world was unjustified. He believed Mera was telling the truth, given the look in her eyes. Eight years of crime-fighting had taught him a thing or two when it came to reading facial expressions. And the fact she was beautiful might have helped. Maybe he did have a thing for redheads. Okay, he was just kidding with that last reason.

Checking his wristwatch, which also functioned as a web-shooter, Peter was relieved to see he was punctual for once. Maybe his days of being late for classes, work, meetings, gatherings, and dates were finally over.

Still lost in his thoughts, Peter wondered how he was going to find the Atlantean redhead. He wandered aimlessly along one of the park's trails when his thoughts were interrupted by a familiar, feminine voice. "I've been looking for you."

He turned to one side to see Mera, who was walking towards him. She was wearing a white button-down shirt and white baggy pants, along with a greyish green coat that contrasted her flowing, fiery red locks.

"Hey, Mera," he said, giving her a friendly wave which she returned.

They greeted each other before making their way across a winding path that was situated alongside a lake and several trees. For the next few minutes or so, they made small talk, which mostly consisted of Mera inquiring more about the surface world, which Peter eagerly answered.

Mera's attention was drawn away when she spotted a blue jay, a lavender-blue colored bird, which was perched on a tree branch not far away. The Atlantean redhead eyed the bird curiously. Having spent her entire life underwater, Mera had never seen, let alone heard of a bird before.

Peter smiled at her antics as the bird chirped a beautiful melody. "That's a blue jay."

Nodding appreciatively to Peter, Mera made her way towards a field of flowers and admired the many colors and different shaped flowers, from red to pink to yellow to lavender.

"This is beautiful," she said, breathing in the fragrance of the many different flowers that decorated the field.

'And so are you,' Peter unknowingly thought to himself.

Next, they made their way over to the Bethesda Fountain. As one of the oldest and largest fountains in the city, the fountain was a highlight of Central Park. At the fountain's center stood an intricately designed eight-foot bronze angel, also known as the Angels of Waters.

Peter reached into his pocket and handed Mera a coin. Noticing a little girl standing beside them, Mera kindly offered the coin to the young girl instead, who gingerly accepted the gift with a bright smile on her face. The little girl then tossed the coin into the fountain, closing her eyes to make a wish.

A faint bluish glow appeared over Mera's hand. Using her hydrokinetic powers, she created several miniature dolphins with water from the fountain to the little girl's surprise.

"Mommy, mommy!" the little girl called after as she watched the dolphins twist and jump out of the water. After a while, she stepped away from the fountain and went to her parents, who were several feet away talking to each other, and asked them for something.

"As a child, I was raised by my father to believe the surface world was an unforgiving place. I was taught that humans were responsible for much of the ocean's suffering," Mera revealed as she dipped her hand into the fountain to feel the water rushing against her fingers. "But now that I'm here, I'm beginning to think my father was wrong."

"I'm starting to think you like it here," Peter said, with a smile on his face.

"It would be wrong to judge a place I've never seen before," Mera said with a smile of her own. Just then, the little girl from before came up to her with a gift that Mera gladly accepted after thanking the girl. It was a comic book titled Amazing Fantasy, which featured Spider-Man.

"You're on a comic book?" Mera asked in astonishment as she flipped through a couple of the colorful pages.

"And a cereal box, a Christmas album, a theme song," he listed with his fingers as the pair made their way from the fountain to another park trail. "Aaand a so-so popsicle."

"Wow, you're quite the popular man," she teased.

"Well, not exactly... These companies just see Spider-Man as a cash grab y' know?" he said, running his hand through his hair.

As they were walking, Peter suddenly felt a faint buzzing at the back of his head.

"What a sweet couple of lovebirds." The pair turned around to see a man standing there. He looked like every other regular person. Well, except for the pocket knife in his right hand. "Hand over your wallets."

"Trust me, you don't want to do this, pal," Peter said, showing his empty hands as he tried to calm the man down. "Just put down the knife and walk away. You can still turn your life around."

"Don't tell me how to live my—" That was as far as the man got because Mera punched him so hard in the stomach that he doubled over and dropped the pocket knife.

"Told you so," Peter said with a smirk on his face.

"I wouldn't have reasoned with him," Mera chimed in as she watched Peter scooped the knife up and chucked it into a nearby recycling can.

"Well, I think everyone deserves a second chance to—" He was interrupted when a nearby security alarm went off. There was no escaping that ol' Parker luck, Peter thought as he sighed inwardly to himself. He looked over to Mera.

"You have to go," she said.

"I'm really sorry," Peter said as he headed for the exit. "We'll catch up later, promise."

"It can wait," she reassured him. "Now go and be a hero."

He nodded and then dashed off like a speeding bullet towards the crime scene.

* * *

A quick costume change, and a second later, Peter was now in his Spider-Man suit as he swung towards the crime scene. Thinking back to his exchange with Mera, Peter wondered if he should have offered her to join him in taking down the soon-to-be in jail criminals. Given her intention to maintain a low profile, however, he doubted she would have followed him and risk putting herself in the spotlight.

Then again, maybe he was just finding an excuse to avoid putting her in harm's way. Peter knew the redhead could handle herself, but he was never one to let others put themselves in danger. So maybe he was a little overprotective, Peter thought.

In no time, he arrived at the source of the commotion. It was yet another break-in at a bank. When will these criminals ever learn, he asked himself. He clung to the side of the building on the second floor to gain a better vantage point and to avoid alerting the assailants. The windows were shattered as debris littered around the area.

A moment later, an uncanny trio stepped out of the multi-storied building. It was none other than the ragtag team known as the Enforcers. They were a trio of high profile criminals that Peter encountered back in the day. However, they quickly lost prominence when Fisk established himself as the Kingpin of Crime.

Peter liked to think that he was past dealing with the likes of the Enforcers. But here he was, having to deal with them yet again.

The leader among the trio was Montanna. Always dressed like a cowboy, Montanna was highly-skilled in the use of the lariat. He had a lime green coat this time around and wore a fancy cowboy hat. More concerning was an all-new electrified whip in his hand that crackled dangerously with red electricity.

Next up was Fancy Dan. Despite the man's short stature, Fancy Dan was a highly adept martial artist and marksman. He wore a purple tuxedo vest over a casual white dress suit and had a revolver on each side of his shoulder holster.

Last but certainly not least was Ox, the muscle of the team. He wore a white cotton shirt with a yellow hoodie and blue sweatpants. In his hands were two bags stuffed full with stolen money from the bank.

"Hey, fellas, ready to head back to prison?" Peter quipped, taking the trio by surprise. Landing behind them, he yanked away Fancy Dan's revolvers using two web-lines before any of them could even react.

"Webs, it has been a while, but we won't go easy on ya," Montanna remarked. He drew back his hand, which caused Peter's spider-sense to tingle.

With a slight sidestep, Peter dipped out of the way of the whip aimed at his head.

"Stupid bug, why can't you leave us alone!" yelled Ox. Without thinking, he threw one of the stolen sacks of money straight at Spider-Man.

"Ox, you idiot! You just gave the blasted webhead our money!" Montanna snapped. He watched as the wall-crawler caught the bag and secured it snuggly inside a web net.

"Thanks for the assist, Ox. You're a really great team player." Peter gave the man a mocked salute. He then vaulted over Ox, who had attempted to run him down. Landing behind Ox, Peter fired a rapid succession of impact webbing, immobilizing the man.

"Dammit, take him down, now!" ordered Montanna, who managed to snag one of the wall-crawler's arms with his whip. Holding onto Fancy Dan's arm, Montanna hurled the smaller man into the air, who used the added momentum to deliver a flying kick to the hero.

Peter used his superhuman strength to snap free of the electrified whip, despite the searing pain. He raised his left arm up in time and blocked a kick from Fancy Dan.

"Okay, time to wrap this up." Grabbing Fancy Dan by the ankle, Peter swung the man headfirst into Montanna, which left both criminals dazed and with a bloodied nose. A finale double roundhouse kick was all it took for Peter to knock them out.

He then secured the three Enforcers in a web cocoon and left them for the police. He was about to web-swing away to find Mera when he caught a camera flash at the corner of his eye.

Peter spun his head to the source of the flash. To his surprise, it was Mera. She was holding onto a futuristic-looking device which he assumed was Atlantean tech, and was busy snapping pictures of the crime scene.

"Smile for the camera, Spidey!" she hollered.

He gave her a thumbs-up and proceeded to do a few exaggerated poses, which earned him a few laughs from the redhead. Soon after, the sound of approaching police sirens could be heard, which was their cue to exit the scene.

* * *

"Wow, these photos are incredible," complimented Peter. He was once again in his civilian attire and was viewing the pictures Mera took on her device.

They were now walking along a crowded street in downtown Manhattan while eating ice cream.

"Mhm," she said, half-agreeing with the man while enjoying the sweet taste of the cold desert. Despite her short stay here, she could tell the surface-dwellers had a way with food.

"You should totally consider applying for the Bugle," Peter said. "They would love to have a photographer like you... that is if you decide on staying here for a while."

Nodding her head in agreement, Mera added, "It would be a good way for me to blend in and learn more about the surface world from a different perspective."

"That's awesome," he said.

"Yeah," Mera absentmindedly replied. She had a slightly conflicted look on her face, which Peter caught on after a while.

"Hey, you okay?" he asked.

"I've been thinking, Peter. The places we've been to today have been wonderful. Yet, it is difficult to learn and accept that so much crime happens in this city all the time."

Peter looked at her, encouraging her to go on.

"What if the bad outweighs the good? What if— the surface world isn't worth saving?" she asked, hoping that he had an answer.

"Look, Mera. You're right that there's a ton of crime in the city, and its something that I'm working on improving," Peter said. "But there's also a lot of good. Ordinary New Yorkers are a good bunch of people. There's a place I'd like to bring you to that might just change your mind."

This piqued the redhead's interest.

"In fact, we're right around the corner," he said.

True to his word, they were greeted to the sight of a well-sized two-story building after turning around the corner. It had large window panels and a golden-brown exterior. The building featured a signboard that read F.E.A.S.T. with the words "Food Emergency And Shelter Training" written under it.

"Welcome to F.E.A.S.T," Peter said. He instinctively held the door open for Mera to enter first, which she thanked him for.

"Here at F.E.A.S.T, anyone and everyone can come by to volunteer and help the homeless and those in need," he continued as they entered the main hall. "Those who come here to receive help get to learn new life skills too. When they leave this place, they can then support themselves and contribute back to society."

"Hmm," she hummed, taking in the surroundings of the homeless shelter. There were rows of beds, tables, and chairs that lined the main hall. Despite the somewhat messy and cluttered appearance of the place, she could tell the people were happy here, as evident as she watched a man and woman happily playing chess together.

Continuing past the hall, he introduced her to the different facilities the shelter had to offer. Just then, an elderly man approached them.

"Hey, Peter, what's up?" greeted the elderly man.

"Hey, Ernie, just showing a friend around," Peter replied. He waved goodbye to Ernie as they entered the canteen. There were two photo portraits framed on one side of the wall.

The first was a picture of Martin Li, the founder of F.E.A.S.T., who secretly turned out to be the supervillain the Bugle dubbed as Mister Negative. Li was plagued with a personality disorder due to illegal experiments conducted by Oscorp. He had struggled for years but unfortunately allowed his desire for vengeance to consume him. Nonetheless, Peter and much of those who benefitted from F.E.A.S.T. believed that there was still good in Li, with Li having once said F.E.A.S.T. was his greatest accomplishment.

The second portrait was a picture of his Aunt May, with the words "In memory of May Parker and her enduring spirit" etched under it. While Peter accepted the decision he had to make to save the city, part of him wished he could go back in time to thank May. To thank her for everything she had done.

"Peter, nobody here will ever forget what May did for us," said a homeless man who had recognized him.

"Thank you," Peter replied as Mera placed her hand on his shoulder to comfort him.

She gave him a knowing look, telling him she understood how he felt.

Peter gave her an appreciative nod as he said, "My Aunt always told me: When you help someone, you help everyone."

"Come on," he then said, inviting Mera to join him and a couple of other volunteers to help out at the shelter.

* * *

"Thank you for bringing me here, Peter," Mera said, as the two of them exited the F.E.A.S.T. shelter.

They had spent the better part of the afternoon helping out at the homeless shelter, and it was an eye-opening experience for her, to say the least.

"It's the least I could do," Peter said. "Although I wouldn't mind if you gave me a tour of Atlantis in exchange."

"Maybe when you're ready. In the meantime, I could give you a tour of my sub," she offered, causing Peter's eyes to lit up like a Christmas tree.

"I'll take you up on that. Buuut first, there's one last place we have to visit for today," he said, pointing towards a massive skyscraper that was about a hundred feet away from them.

The skyscraper's design consisted of simple symmetries shaped into eight tall interlocking isosceles triangles. Large, luminous glass panels sheathed the building on all sides, giving it a bluish color due to the reflection from the late afternoon sky. On its top, was a tall spire that completed the design. The skyscraper was none other than the One World Trade Center, one of the tallest buildings in the world, and the tallest in the city. It also went by the name of Freedom Tower.

A quick costume change once again, and a minute later, Peter scaled up the skyscraper with Mera, who had wrapped her arms around his neck. They snuck up onto the rooftop and were greeted with a panoramic view of the city. He had offered to take her on a web-swinging ride so that she could experience New York from his perspective, which she gladly accepted.

"I've never been so high up before," Mera admitted, admiring the city skyline.

"Well, I come up here sometimes to enjoy the view," Peter said, walking to the edge of the rooftop with Mera following suit.

"I can see why," she hummed.

"Are you ready?" Peter asked as he did a quick check to ensure his web-shooters were fully refilled.

"Yes." There was a hint of mischief in her voice. Before Peter had time to react, the redhead jumped off the building, without warning.

"Mera!" Peter called after worriedly. With blazing speed, he dived down to catch up to her. She had literally just jumped off a skyscraper. Without a parachute! Using his webs, he hurled himself forward towards her.

"You are crazy!" he exclaimed, having swung forward in a pendulum arc motion to catch her.

"And you're amazing," she laughed, holding onto him. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the sensation of the rushing wind against her face.

"Hold tight," he told her, allowing himself a few moments of free-fall before firing his web-shooter at another skyscraper up ahead.

Mera felt a wild rush of elation built up inside her, as Peter released a second strand of webbing that caused them to swing forward at incredible speeds. This was unlike anything she had ever experienced before. It was breathtaking.

Peter shot his webs onto the side of a building and hurled himself forward, again, and again. It was as close as he could get to flying and was an experience he always enjoyed. And from the looks of it, Mera was having the time of her life as well.

Encourage by Mera's cheering, Peter flipped, twisted, and spun through the air as they swung through a maze of skyscrapers, and into the orange-hued evening sky.

* * *

 **A/N: First up, thank you to everyone who has read/followed/favorited/reviewed the story, I hoped you all enjoyed this 'slice of life' styled chapter. I wanted to give the story some space to take things slowly to let Peter and Mera get the time to know and bond with each other. For anyone wondering, the Enforcers are mainly based on their appearance in Amazing Spider-Man LGY #812. Do leave a review and let me know what you all think. Stay tuned for more!**

Answers to reviewers' questions:

Spawn Hades: Thanks for the review! As much as I would like for Tony to appear as a mentor, I don't think I'll go that route as my plan is for Spider-Man to be the only major Marvel superhero in the story. Tony might get a mention or two, but that as far as I'll go since the focus is more on the DC side of things. Expect a twist, but you can rule out Peter being half-Atlantean.

cabrera1234: Yep! In fact, Peter will be facing Black Manta very soon.

treyalexander63917: Arthur will be making an appearance down the line, but not anytime soon since the start of this story is meant to take place six months before most of the events in Aquaman. Not too sure about Miles as of now. I might wait to see how Insomniac develops his character before deciding on whether to include him.

Marveldcfan: As of now, I have no plans to make Peter the King, but the story is always subject to change.


	3. Back to Work

**Spider-Man: Throne of Atlantis**

* * *

 **Chapter III: Back to Work**

* * *

Peter loved being a scientist. Sure, he loved being Spider-Man too— well, at least most of the time. In some ways, he never felt freer than when he was in the suit. With his powers, he could be anywhere in the city in a matter of seconds and pull-off seemingly impossible superhuman feats.

But the thing was, Peter had never asked for his powers nor ever dreamed of becoming a superhero. He did always wanted to be a scientist, though. With an aptitude for science, Peter was motivated at a young age to pursue a career in said subject. Fast forward to the present, and the last project he worked on created a monster octopus that nearly destroyed Manhattan. Nevertheless, the benefits of being a scientist were apparent. For one, he could sneak in time at work to upgrade his spider-suit, which was exactly what he was doing right now.

After Otto's incarceration, Peter quite naturally lost his job. As always, Norman Osborn was most eager to offer him a position at Oscorp. Despite the man's ethically questionable business practices, Peter was half-tempted to accept Osborn's offer, given his financial predicament. Peter was ready to make the call when out of nowhere, Alchemax, New York's lastest up-and-coming tech company, approached him with a generous proposal. They had offered him the position of a research scientist, which he readily accepted. As part of the package, Peter had a decent wage, semi-flexible working hours, and even the privilege of his own personal lab. Not bad for a kid from Queens if he'd say so himself.

His lab resembled a scaled-down version of any other modern-day scientific laboratory. There were computers, canisters, spectrographs, prototypes, and other mechanical equipment scattered around. At the center of his desk, Peter was now making some adjustments to his suit's mask. He worked on the interior circuitry of his mask and was replacing worn-out transistors with newly improved ones. He had just installed a pressurized mask in the headpiece interior, which could store up to fifteen minutes of highly compressed air. While still a work-in-progress, Peter felt it was worthwhile to install it anyways, considering the likelihood of him being in an underwater confrontation in the future.

Satisfied with his progress, Peter shifted gears and went back to focus on his actual work when he felt sleep calling him. To his credit, he had spent half of last night clearing out Hammerhead's hideouts. The rainy morning weather wasn't helping either, to say the least. A minute or two of rest wouldn't hurt, Peter told himself. He was about to doze off, only to hear a knock on his door.

"You never change, do you?" said an amused voice.

"I'm awake!" Peter jumped up. Embarrassment washed over him as he turned to see Liz Allan, who was his boss and Alchemax's current CEO, leaning against the door.

Who would've thought Midtown High's resident cheerleader would go on to become CEO of the fastest-growing tech startups in the city? Liz was always charismatic and resourceful, though, so that must have helped, Peter noted.

Liz was his first-ever crush, and even until now, it was easy to see why. She was fair-skinned and had long blonde hair with sapphire blue eyes and a modelesque figure. She was dressed in a plain white dress shirt with rolled-up sleeves and black pants with black Bottega pumps.

"Oh, Peter. You haven't changed a bit since high school. I remember you sleeping in class, stumbling in late every other day," Liz said, walking up to him with a tablet in one hand. "That said, you always were the smartest of us. Valedictorian, remember? It'd be a waste if you were sleeping on the job."

"Point made, Liz." He gave her a sheepish look. "I was just up late, but I'll get back to work."

"Trouble sleeping?" she asked.

"Well, actually there's this girl—"

"Girlfriend?" she interjected, her eyes narrowing slightly.

"No! I mean, not really. She's new to the city, and I've been volunteering to help out," Peter said as he tried his best to keep the details vague.

"Anyways, I want you to look over the engineering department's latest designs," Liz said, her expression softening. With a tap on her tablet, she transferred the files wirelessly over to his computer. "See what you can do to improve them."

"Got it, boss," Peter replied. In an instant, he had opened the schematics on his monitor and immediately got down to work.

There was a faint smile on Liz's lips as she watched Peter worked. He was twirling a stylus pen in one hand as he looked through the various designs. She would've commented on Peter's habit of pen spinning, which he'd been doing since high school, if not for the sudden alert on her tablet.

"Great. The board wants to hold an emergency meeting tomorrow," Liz said with a sigh, dreading the amount of paperwork she was going to have to get done over the night to prepare for the meeting. "I have to go."

"You're gonna kill it, Liz," Peter said, taking his eyes off the screen for a moment to look at her.

"Got that right." Liz flashed him a confident grin before she turned to leave.

She lingered at the doorway for a moment before the door shut.

* * *

Mera liked how quickly things moved in New York City.

While Atlantis was amazing in its own right, life under the sea went by too slow for her liking. Owing to her royal heritage and position within the government, Mera had to attend daily council sessions. Those meetings often droned-on for hours on end, hence creating the appearance that time passed by slower in the underwater kingdom. Having lived in Atlantis her entire life, the week or so she had spent in New York was a nice change of pace. Everyone here seemed like they knew what they wanted and wanted to get things done quickly.

Mera had spent the morning exploring city sights when she received a call from the Bugle. She'd just submitted her portfolio and résumé the day prior and was offered an impromptu interview later in the afternoon with the editor-in-chief. That was fast.

Here she was, a few hours later, seated at a corner of the office. As she waited for her turn, Mera took in the surroundings of the office place.

Rows of workstations were lined across the newsroom. Computers, swivel chairs, stacks of files were scattered everywhere and were accompanied by the occasional shouting and endless clatter of keyboards that filled the workplace. To her side, there was a queue of hopeful applicants like her seated at one corner of the room.

"You're Elmira Elles, right?"

It took Mera a second to register that she was being called. Elmira was the cover name she came up with. She looked up to find a dark-haired woman smiling at her. "Yes."

"Betty Brant," the woman said, as she motioned Mera over to the editor-in-chief's office. "I'm Mr. Robertson's secretary, so I took a look at the pictures you submitted. They're good."

"That's very kind of you," Mera said, as she followed the secretary as they weaved through a crowd of office staffers.

"How'd you get your photos to look so good?" Betty asked as they stood outside the editor-in-chief's room.

"Trade secret," Mera replied, chancing a wink at the other woman.

"Well, I don't want to hold you up, so good luck," the brunette said with a relaxed smile.

Mera thanked the woman once more before quietly making her way into the editor-in-chief's office. The room was fairly spacious, with large glass windows. On one side of the office, there were a couple of framed newspaper articles, one of which featured Spider-Man in a heroic pose. A soft smile appeared on Mera's face when she saw the photo credits, P.P.

"Take a seat," Robbie Robertson offered. He was in his mid-forties, graying at the temples, and had the look of a seasoned, toughened journalist, with the experience to back it up.

Being one of the Bugle's earliest staffers, Robbie worked under J. Jonah Jameson as city editor, and it was by no means an easy job. However, serving under Jameson had its perks. After J.J.'s tenure as chief editor had ended, he appointed Robbie himself to be his successor, to continue the good work exposing "Spider-Man for the menace he was." To Jameson's dismay, the Bugle effectively stopped publishing baseless accusations against Spider-Man after he stepped down. Robbie had actually turned out to be an ardent supporter of the wall-crawler.

Mera nodded, taking a seat on one of the two empty chairs inside the room. "Thank you, Mr. Robertson."

"Robbie is fine," he said. He had printed out her submission. A sign of his age and that he hadn't yet moved on with the trend to go digital.

"Of course," she acknowledged.

Robbie held up one of her photographs. "You're a talented photographer," he said. "Your photos, I quite like them. They almost remind me of the shots a previous photographer of mine used to take."

"Thank you—"

"Having said that, I've got a long list of aspiring photographers hoping to work for the Bugle," he stated. "Add that to the amateurs thinking they are professional photographers just because they can snap pictures on their smartphones, and you can see that I'm in a tight spot."

"I... I don't quite understand," Mera said.

"My point is that the Bugle has its hands full right now. At least when it concerns photographers," Robbie explained. He gave her a meaningful look.

Mera nodded understandingly, though her eyes faltered.

"With that in mind, we didn't call you up all the way here just to waste your time, Miss Elles," Robbie said.

A sigh of relief escaped Mera as she visibly relaxed.

"You're a good photographer. Not the best yet, but very good," Robbie reiterated. "So I'm offering you the chance to cut the queue by working as a freelancer for the Bugle with the option to work with us full time if you perform well. What do you say?"

Mera brightened up. "That would be delightful."

"Good, but I've noticed you tend to go for pictures on crime and super-heroics," Robbie noted, referring to her portfolio.

"I want to do my part," she said, without missing a beat. While Mera had initially planned to just observe and blend in with the surface world, she couldn't just sit by and let injustice run rampant in the city. Given her need to maintain a low profile as per Atlantis' archaic laws mandating that it had to remain a secret to the surface world, running around in a costume like Peter was a strict no-no. Mera figured being an investigative photographer would be a good middle-ground between inaction and being a full-fledged superhero.

"You're not the first to tell me that, and you'll certainly not be the last." Robbie chuckled before his expression became noticeably more somber. "That said, when you're assigned to an assignment, you're expected to do the job we hired you to do. If we send you to photograph a marathon event, you'll do that. If its the lastest science fair, you'll cover it too. That's the job I'm offering. You might get 'lucky' occasionally and be assigned to photograph something crime-related, but that's not always going to be the case. Are we clear on that?"

"Perfectly," Mera replied. After all, she was going to be a freelancer. Robbie couldn't dictate what she'd do in her own time.

"Excellent. Wait for our call, check in with my secretary on your way out, and please close the door," Robbie said.

You won't be disappointed, Mr. Robertson— Robbie," Mera said.

"I know," the editor-in-chief returned in kind, confident of his judgment.

She smiled, thanked the man, and left.

Mera had made it. She had landed a job at the Bugle. It wasn't exactly the one she wanted, but it was a step in the right direction. She couldn't wait to tell Peter about the news and wondered how he was faring...

* * *

"Haven't you guys heard the saying by now? That crime doesn't pay?" Peter quipped as he dodged a right hook aimed at his head.

Aside from his blunder earlier in the morning, the day had gone by pretty smoothly for him. Well, until now. He'd just got out of work minutes ago and was hoping to catch up on some much-needed sleep when two of his lesser-known adversaries, Man Mountain Marko and the Ringer, decided to break into Alchemax at rush hour of all times.

True to his name, Man Mountain Marko towered over the average man. He stood a full seven feet in height and wore an unbuttoned brown shirt with grey pants. Undergoing an experimental treatment by the Maggia, Marko was imbued with superhuman strength and durability that allowed him to go toe-to-toe with Spider-Man.

On the other hand, Marko's partner in crime Anthony Davis, better known as the Ringer, possessed no powers of his own. To compensate, he donned an armored suit that was outfitted with an assortment of metallic ring-based weapons, ranging from explosive shaped-rings to constrictor rings that could coil around and crush a man.

"Stay still, you web-freak," yelled Man Mountain Marko, who was becoming increasingly frustrated as he failed to land a second punch.

Avoiding a series of punches, Peter retaliated by flipping the man over and sent the bruiser crashing into a wall. "No can do, Marko-boy."

The titanic-sized man, who was now seething in rage, attempted to rush down the spider-themed hero, only to trip over a web-line and fall face-first onto the floor.

"Heh, classic," Peter remarked. He was about to deliver the knockout blow when he felt a faint buzz at the back of his head. Taking heed of his spider-sense, Peter swerved his head to one side and avoided a barrage of razor-sharp ring projectiles.

"Yeah, yeah. Keep talking ya bug, and I'll zap you out of your misery," the Ringer said, sending another wave of ring projectiles at the wall-crawler.

"Isn't zapping Electro's thing?" Peter quipped as he pushed an office assistant out of the way of the attack. "Hold on, does Sparkles know you're trying to steal his thunder? You wouldn't like him when he's angry. Trust me on that."

"What? No, no...stay away!" The Ringer panicked at the idea of having to face Electro as he tried to fend off the wall-crawler with an exploding ring.

"I mean, c'mon, you don't even have taser rings for crying out loud." Peter quickly closed the gap and smacked the supervillain into the side of an office desk, sending bits and pieces of furniture and paper stacks flying into the air.

"Shaddap, you two!" Man Mountain Marko yelled. Recovering from the earlier attack, he picked up a workstation and threw it at Spider-Man.

Peter rolled out of the way, though he winced at the thought of all the collateral damage. First, the Daily Bugle and now Alchemax, it seemed like every place he worked at had to get wrecked at some point.

"We're getting nowhere," the Ringer noted to his partner in crime. Spider-Man was damn near unhittable.

Peter nodded his head in approval. "Finally someone who gets it. Say how about both of you quietly surrender, and I'll promise not to beat you guys up too badly?"

"Ain't gonna need to hit you to get you," Marko said, as he took a good look at the office place. The room had descended into chaos as the various office workers attempted to escape the place. "Ringer, blast them to hell!"

"Happy to oblige." A devilish grin formed on Ringer's face as he fired a set of constrictor rings at the helpless civilians.

"No!" With no time to spare, Peter lunged forward and placed himself in the way of the attack. The constrictor rings coiled and tightened around him upon impact, with enough force to crush anyone who didn't possess superhuman levels of durability.

"I've been waiting for this!" Marko yelled before he delivered a haymaker punch that sent the distracted hero flying into the air.

Peter was sent crashing through a wooden door and into an office room, which he immediately recognized. Great. He had landed in Liz Allan's office. Just his luck.

"Spider-Man?! What are you doing here? Get out!" Liz ordered. "What have you got us into this time?"

"You know, I'm not so sure myself," Peter admitted before he snapped himself free of the vice-like grip the titanium rings had around his body.

Relying on his reflexes to guide him, Peter managed to move himself and Liz out of the way in time to avoid an explosive projectile from the Ringer. The subsequent blowback of the explosion, however, knocked him onto the ground though he quickly recovered. This was starting to get embarrassing, Peter thought. He was getting sloppy. He shouldn't have so much trouble beating a couple of d-listers. It was time to end this. Fast.

"Payback time, insect," Marko said as he stepped into the executive's office room along with the Ringer. There was a triumphed look on the bruiser's face before his eyes shifted to Liz with a gaze that unsettled Peter.

In response, Peter fired a web-shot that temporarily blinded the supervillain. "Hey, eyes on me, Marko!"

Liz, for her part, gave the two criminals a hard stare that was downright intimidating. The woman could be scary when she wanted to. Peter knew that firsthand when they dated years ago.

"I'll rip you apart!" Marko went into a frenzy as he ripped the webbing covering his eyes and charged straight at the wall-crawler.

Peter easily leaped out of the way, spun around, and followed up with a kick.

Meanwhile, the Ringer, launched a second explosive round behind the spider-themed hero, hoping to catch the hero by surprise.

"Seriously, when has sneaking up on the 'spider-guy' actually ever worked for anyone?" Peter quipped as he yanked the explosive projectile with a web-line and hurled it straight at Marko instead.

Upon impact, Marko was engulfed in a fiery explosion, though his toughened skin did provide him with some degree of protection. Just barely recovering from the blast, Marko rose to his feet before he caught a shadow amongst the cloud of smoke.

Peter appeared almost like a blur, delivering a rapid succession of strikes before following up with a shot of taser webs. Man Mountain Marko was down for the count. One more to go.

In full-blown panic mode, the Ringer decided to ditch his ally and made a run for it, only to collide head-on with a fire extinguisher.

"This is for wrecking my office," Liz said as she swung the fire extinguisher like a baseball bat, knocking the criminal out cold.

"So that happened," Peter said. He secured the two-man team inside a web cocoon. "Thanks for the assist."

"Hmm, I should be thanking you instead. For wrecking my place. Again." Liz huffed.

Having been one of Peter's classmates, she had her fair share of encounters with Spider-Man and his fights. For a while, it seemed like Midtown High was a hotbed for supercriminals because the school was attacked so often. While Spider-Man himself would swoop in and save the day, let's just say he tended to leave a mess behind.

"How did you even know to be here? Don't you have places to be at?" she questioned.

Peter was in the process of coming up with an excuse before Liz's words registered in his head. Places to be— uh oh. He had agreed to meet Mera tonight. Scratch that, he was supposed to be there in fifteen minutes. Peter really hope he wasn't going to be late.

"Right. Gotta go!" Peter said before he leaped up into the ventilator shaft and quickly disappeared out of sight.

Just then, an office assistant peeked into her room. "Ms. Allan! Are you all right?" he asked.

"Fine. I'm fine..." Liz sighed to herself before a thought crossed her mind. She quickly regained her composure. "Our windows. Are any broken?"

"Uh... no, I don't think so," the office boy said.

"Verify it yourself. Once you have, I want to see all our employee records," she ordered.

"All of—?"

"Everyone. From the top execs to the mailroom guys," Liz said as she walked over to her desk.

The office assistant noted down her orders but couldn't help himself from asking why she wanted the records.

"Spider-Man never just walks in through the front door. He comes in through a window. And since our windows are sealed, he'd have to break his way in," Liz explained as she sat down at her table. "If he didn't, that means he was already here. And if he was already here, that means he works here."

"Or he could have been an outsider having a meeting here," the office boy suggested.

"True. Get me a list of all our visitors as well."

The office assistant nodded.

"But no, I think he's an employee." Liz thought out loud. "I believe I have a hero on my payroll. And if that's the case..." There was a subtle grin on her face as she interlocked her fingers. "I'm going to make sure he winds up superheroing for me."

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, and at another part of the city, Peter was in an abandoned alleyway hurriedly changing into his regular clothes. He stuffed his spider-suit inside his backpack before making a mad dash to the place where they had settled to meet.

Please be on time, please be on time, Peter silently prayed. In a daze, he almost ran into Mera, though he managed to stop himself in time, his face just inches away from hers.

A faint blush appeared on her cheeks. "Hey, Peter—"

"Oh god, I made it," he panted, bending over to catch his breath.

She raised one eyebrow. "Were you going to be late?"

"Well, yeah." He gave her a sheepish smile. "Supervillain attack. You know, the usual."

For a few moments, a comfortable silence settled between them as they walked side by side through the streets of New York under the nighttime sky.

"I got the job," she said.

Peter broke into a grin. "That's so great!"

"Mm-hmm," Mera hummed. She returned his smile.

"So this is it..." he said as they arrived at the entrance of The Museum of Modern Art or MoMA for short. Something wasn't right. The place was dark and practically deserted as a sudden realization dawned on him. "Oh, it's closed."

"For how long?"

"Till next year." He gave her a nervous laugh. Just when he had worked his butt off to make sure he wasn't late, this of all things had to happen. Good ol' Parker luck.

"Seriously?" Mera asked in a mocked tone.

"Sorry. I mean... I should've checked the website, but..." Peter rambled on as he rubbed the back of his head, trying to find an excuse to cover his blunder.

She burst into laughter. "I was just kidding."

The man could be adorable sometimes when he was nervous, Mera mused to herself, noting the man's flustered reaction.

"There's this new sandwich place we could try out instead," Peter suggested, letting out a breath he didn't realize he was holding.

"We could," she said. "But I've got a better idea."

Peter eyed her curiously as they made their way away from the museum and walked along the sidewalk.

"Let's go out to the sea."

"What?" Peter blurted out.

"Having second thoughts?" Mera frowned. "I did promise to give you a tour of my submarine."

"You don't really have to this, you know. I was just joking that time," he said.

"Don't tell me the rumors are true. That spiders are afraid of water," she teased.

"No!" Truth to be told, he was. "Okay, maybe. Just a little." Peter admitted as memories of the time he nearly drowned in the Hudson River, and his countless battles with Hydro-Man flashed in his mind.

Refusing to take no for an answer, Mera hooked her arm around one of his arms and dragged him along.

"Hey, hey! Let's talk about this first." Peter tried to reason as he found himself being pulled along, struggling against the woman's grip despite his own enhanced strength.

"Come on, it'll be fun," she said. "What could go wrong?"

* * *

 **A/N: And the third chapter is (finally) up! Hoped you all liked it. So Peter's job is finally revealed and its Alchemax! I thought it would be neat to take a page out of Spider-Man 2099 (the 2014 comic series) and repurpose it for this story. I tried a go at writing from Mera's perspective this time around, but I'm still trying to nail her "voice" down. Also, Man Mountain Marko and Ringer's outfits are based on their appearance in Amazing Spider-Man LGY #803. Please leave a review if you can and stick around for more!**

Answers to reviewers' questions:

Mashot Tito: Peter has gone solo for the most part. Plus given the DCUE is in a mix right now with the Batman reboot and whatnot, I think I'll just focus on Spidey and Aquaman-related characters for now. As for Sable, you'll just have to wait and see.

treyalexander63917: Fair enough. Although Peter's chances will vary depending on the context. Without a water source, I'd say they are relatively matched but say they're in the middle of the sea, and Peter loses almost every time.

Spooder-Boi: I hear you, not gonna rush anything. Yes, other DC characters exist, but the focus is just on Aquaman-related ones. As for Peter, while he doesn't have affiliations with other superheroes/teams, he has teamed up with a couple of them before.

Death Fury: Yeah, in an alternate timeline, I would have loved to see MCU Peter with a closer bond with Cap instead of Tony.

Celestial Glowhead: Thank you so much for the in-depth review of both chapters, I really appreciate it! I've made some changes to the first two chapters based on your suggestions and tried to make them flow better. And yes, the Spectacular Spider-Man has always been one of my favorite iterations of the character, so it has influenced me quite a bit. Hope to hear from you again soon.


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